The Denver Nuggets aren’t going to wait around to find out if they’re going to be Cleveland’d or Toronto’d next summer when Carmelo Anthony hits the free agent market a year behind his famous friends.

Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports that the Nuggets have scheduled face to face meetings with Melo’s representatives in the next few weeks to begin preliminary discussions of a contract extension for the All-Star Forward The move symbolizes an aggressive maneuver on the part of the Nuggets to avoid Melo departing in free agency if things with the Nuggets were to go south.

It’ll be interesting to see how this unfolds from two angles. First, it’ll be telling to see how Melo handles this, with Washington’s acquisition of the number one overall pick and interest in the town he grew up in picking back up. Additionally, Melo’s agent is Leon Rose, who you may have heard also represents LeBron James. So Rose is likely to be preoccupied the next few weeks managing the biggest free agent contract in the history of the NBA.

Still, good for the Nuggets seeking to avoid this disaster. Melo’s been willing in the past to forsake his options in pursuit of financial stability. Signing another long-term extension would further that approach and create a safety net for the Nuggets going forward. Melo’s not looking to be a global icon. He just wants to make money and play basketball, it would seem.

And the Nuggets want to be the ones paying him to play basketball. They’re reaching out early to keep that position.